The fuck did he have to bringthatup for? “Thanks, Barry.”
Kayden looked at Cody like he’d lost his mind. “She cheats on you with your best friend and you’rehelpingher?”
“She came in here basically crying, telling me she had no one else and her Pomeranian died and her mother’s sick.”
Kayden shook his head. “Not your problem.”
“Thank you,” Barry sang before moving away.
What was he, the angel of trouble?
Kayden tilted his head. “Cody—”
“I know. It’s a one-time event, and once it’s done, it’s done.”
Kayden raised a brow. “Until the next thing pops up. Even after she cheated on you, she wanted to keep dating, remember? And she uses every excuse she can find to be around you, even while flaunting her relationship with Miles. Doesn’t it piss you off?”
“It did.” His gaze rose to Harper. “But I don’t really care as much anymore.”
In fact, he cared more about Miles’s deceit than Vanessa’s.
Kayden followed his gaze before shaking his head. “Just ask her out already.”
What the hell kind of universe was Kayden living in? He couldn’t just ask out his new employee.
Before he could respond, Eastern sat beside Kayden at the bar. “Ask who out?”
“The beautiful brunette on the floor, Cody’s new hire.”
Eastern turned to look at her.
Cody rolled his eyes. “Yeah, good, let’s all stare at her. That will make her feel real welcome. Won’t scare her at all.”
Eastern shifted his attention back to Cody, a smile on his face. “She’s pretty.”
She wasn’t pretty, she was beautiful, but no way was he saying that out loud to his annoying-as-hell brothers. He’d never hear the end of it. “She showed up here in the middle of the night needing somewhere to stay. Came back the next day asking about the job.”
The humor on both his brothers’ faces dropped.
Eastern leaned forward. “She’s running from something.”
Yeah, they knew. “My thought too. What, exactly, I don’t know.” But he sure as hell wanted to find out.
When Harper returned to the bar, she went to pass him but he touched her arm. “Harper.”
She looked up, smiling at him, and fuck if that lift of her lips didn’t gut him. “You’ve met my brother Kayden, but I want to introduce you to another brother of mine, Eastern. He’s also the town sheriff.”
Her brows shot up. “The sheriff?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Harper.” He gave her a smile that would appear easy to anyone else. Cody knew better. His brother was already trying to figure her out.
It wouldn’t happen. Not yet. She kept her cards too close to her chest.
“You too.”
She kept moving down the bar to serve a customer, and Cody’s gaze rose to scan the room. He’d been doing that a lot since Travis, Dayne, and their friends had visited the other night.
“Looking for Travis?”
